OUR DAY IN TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK

"When you have caught the rhythm of Africa, you find out that it is the same in all her music"

Karen Blixen-Out of Africa

I woke 5 minutes before my alarm this morning at 5.25am to the sound of the bush coming alive, and some birds making a hell of a noise. It was still dark, so no sunrise from the bed for me this morning, but I will get a chance for that tomorrow. I was ready a little early, waiting for my 6am escort to arrive. So I sat on my deck as dawn arrived and soaked up my surroundings. There was a tiny frog on my hand railing and after shining my torch out towards the lake, low and behold there was a crocodile not even 5m away from my raised deck. 5 METERS!!!!!! There were also more sets of eyes across the water that I could see and it gave me a little shiver. During the night I had heard movement under my tent, and when my escort arrived and I pointed out my crocodile friend and told him of the noise I had heard during the night, he asked if it was a dragging noise (crocodile), which I replied no, so he said it was most likely a waterbuck or something similar. UNDER MY TENT!!!!

As we walked along the path to the gym building, my escort showed me some footprints on the path that belonged to a LEOPARD! On the path that we were walking on, not even 100m from my tent!!!! He also said that there were just a few giraffes that had passed through on the same path, showed me their footprints and we could see them moving off in the distance. Man, we are really are in a national park and again it reconfirms why you need to have escorts to and from the accommodations and the main buildings. I did ask what would happen if we ran into an animal on our path, and he said it really depends on the animal, is he agitated. Is he looking scared etc…. but he did say, do not run…… Ok, I’ll keep that in mind, just in case. We arrived to the gym building, and there was already another staff member at the gym, that had opened the bi-fold doors, stocked some towels and had water ready for me. I was then left to my own devices to use the machines and free weights. I really did half expect to see some form of animal to walk past me…. Wishful thinking. I had a great work out and 1 hour and 20 minutes later, I was able to walk myself back to my tent, to shower and get ready for our meet at 8.30am. I decided to use the outdoor shower, and I have to say, there seems to be something liberating about showering outdoors. I expect to have someone pop there head over the wall, or a monkey swing past and scare the crap out of me. Needless to say, none of this happened and I was back onto the path and making my way back the main building at 8.20am. 

As soon as I arrived at reception, there was excitement that one of the Finch trucks had just seen a leopard just down the road, and said if anyone was keen, we could leave NOW and see if he was still around. AH YES PLEASE. Being on time can sometimes payoff, as not everyone was there and ready as we pulled out of the drive way. Well we only had to drive not even 6 minutes and we saw the magnificent LEOPARD crossing the road in front of us and then rest about 15m away from the truck. I was lucky, he was on my side and we switched off our engine as we just observed this guy. He didn’t sit still for long, but I got some magnificent pictures, as he moved on and what seemed to be stalking his breakfast with a herd of zebras in the vicinity. Watch your backs zebras…. Watch your backs.

It was now time for breakfast and we were lucky enough to get a bush breakfast this morning. As we were already in the truck, we kept on travelling to where the breakfast had been set up for us. It was pretty amazing when we turned off the main road and went down this old track to see tables covered in white table cloths, a small tent where a buffet had been set up and there was also an egg station with chefs to cook you omelets and eggs to your liking. It made me appreciate just how long it would take to set this up, the logistics of moving everything to the middle of nowhere to give us an unforgettable experience. Tea and coffee was served in china cups, milk and sugar in sterling silver bowls and crystal glasses for your juice. What a great way to start a full day in Tsavo West National Park!

We were on the road by 10am and had a few places to see on our itinerary today. Tsavo West National Park is a little different from other parks, as there are other things to see and do in the park besides just animal spotting, so I was pretty excited and this was my first time in Tsavo. I do have to say I am a big fan of the Finch Hatton safari trucks. There is plenty of room, they come supplied with blankets for each guest and also a is a little different from other parks, as there is other things to see and do in the park besides just animal spotting, so I was pretty excited and this was my first time in Tsavo and I was going to make the most of it. I do have to say I am a big fan of the Finch Hatton safari trucks. There is plenty of room, they come supplied with blankets for each guest, an aluminum drinking container full of water for each guest and there were two baskets packed with nibbles and hot tea for later on. Yes this was going to be a pretty special day!

Tsavo West National Park is located in the Coast Province of Kenya. The park covers an area of 9,065 square kilometers and the combined area of Tsavo East and West National Parks is one of the world's largest game parks that was gazetted as Kenya's second national park, two years after Nairobi National Park. The A109 road Nairobi-Mombasa and a railway divides it from the adjoining Tsavo East National Park. Tsavo West is a more popular destination on account of its magnificent scenery, Mzima Springs, rich and varied wildlife, good road system, rhino reserve, rock climbing potential and guided walks along the Tsavo River. Beginning in the late 19th century, the British began to colonize the interior of Kenya and built the Uganda Railway through Tsavo in 1898. The construction of the railway was noted for the killings of a number of construction workers in 1898, during the building of a bridge across the Tsavo River. Hunting mainly at night, a pair of maneless male lions stalked and killed at least 28 Indian and African workers – although some accounts put the number of victims as high as 135. The lions, dubbed "the Maneaters of Tsavo," were eventually shot and killed by the bridge construction supervisor, Lt.-Col. John Henry Patterson. The skins and skulls are now displayed in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

In 1948 it was gazetted a national park. At that time, the indigenous populations were relocated to Voi and Mtito Andei as well as other locations within the nearby Taita Hills. Following Kenyan independence in 1963, hunting was banned in the park and management of Tsavo was turned over to the authority that eventually became the Kenya Wildlife Service. Tsavo West National Park has a variety of wildlife, such as eastern black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, African bush elephant, African leopard and Maasai lion. There are also other smaller animals that can be spotted in the park, such as the bush baby, hippopotamus, hartebeest, lesser kudu and Maasai giraffe. Apart from the elephant population there are many lions - some undoubtedly the descendants of the infamous Man-eaters of Tsavo. Among the less common animals to be found are the fringed-eared Oryx, the gerenuk and lesser kudu. The carnivores in addition to lion include serval car, hyena, leopard cheetah and caracal. 

 

All I really wanted to see today was some elephants and Lions and really, I think you would have to be unlucky not to see these animals in a park that is famous for both of them. I just LOVE going on safari. The challenge of finding animals, the wind in your hair and the exhilaration of just being on SAFARI. We saw a lot of animals on the morning drive. To name a few – the white breasted francoline, lots of impala, lots of giraffes, some lesser kudu, squirrels, ostriches, weaver birds, dik diks, cape elands, wildebeest, fringed eared Oryx, duiker and for the first time I saw a gerenuk-which are these cool looking antelopes with extra long necks!! This practically unheard of animal,”gerenuk" is a Somali word which means "giraffe-necked". The name refers to its disproportionally long and skinny neck and it was pretty cool to see a new animal that I had NEVER seen before.

We drove around the park ,and just in those few hours, we passed though many landscapes which all were just stunning, the dry red earth, the yellow plains, the mountains of the Chyulu Hills, the tropical feel of the savannah and palm trees, the boabao trees (we saw one that was 500 years old) and then of course the animals. We made our way to Poachers Lookout at 11.50am as we saw the other group leaving when we were driving up this steep, winding track. It was a magnificent view from up here, and we got only a few minutes here for some photos as we had to meet the other group at Mzima Springs. The hilly landscapes and woodland of Tsavo West mean that spotting wildlife can sometimes be tricky. There’s plenty of it, however, including large numbers of elephants and good lion prides which we still had not seen. We have seen lots of elephant dung, fresh stuff, but NOT a single elephant!!!! The experience of being on safari in Tsavo West is very different from a safari in Tsavo East or the Maasai Mara, where you often have views across wide-open country. Tsavo West safaris are more about unexpected sights as you turn a bend on a wooded track. 

Our next stop was Mzima Springs. It only took around ten minutes of crazy driving to get there from Poachers Lookout. Once we were there, we met a ranger and she took us for a small tour of the springs. There are well-marked nature trails, an observation platform and an underwater glass tank, which provides a special vantage point to view this remarkable oasis. If you’re lucky, the underwater viewing chamber, accessed by a pier, can provide unique photo opportunities, hoping to see a crocodile or a hippo swim by, but we weren’t lucky this time, but we saw plenty of fish and was a pretty cool experience. The crystal-clear water of this chain of lakes is filtered through the volcanic rocks of the Chyulu Hills just to the north from the underground streams stemming 40-50 kilometers away. Shaded by majestic fig and acacia trees, the lakes swarm with fish, large crocodiles and some big pods of hippos. Mzima Springs, which is replenished with two hundred and twenty million liters of crystal-clear water every day, Mzima, is also the main source of Mombasa's water supply. It was a lovely serene spot and an hour later we were back on the road to the last stop of the day, the Shetani Lava Flow.

This section of the drive we saw massive craters, jutting out of the plains, more flat plains in this area and a real different vibe from the rest of the park. You can see where the lava flow actually started and finished and made for some pretty cool landscapes, with the black of the old lava to the yellow and red of the soil and the hills in the background with a bright blue sky. The Shetani Lava Flow is the largest of a whole series of lava flows in the park and is named after the Swahili word for devil or malevolent ghost. The flows were formed only a few hundred years ago and local people believed that it was the devil himself emerging from the earth. This vast expanse of folded black lava spreads for 50 sq km across the savannah at the foot of the Chyulu Hills. The last major eruption here is believed to have taken place around 200 years ago, but there are still very few plants among the cinders. The views are spectacular, but we were told to be wary of wildlife in this area, as there could be predators about. We stopped here and was able to get out of the truck and stretch our legs to get a few photos. Hot tea was served here for those who wanted to wet their whistle and also some snacks. There were no trees or shade here, so it was quite hot with the sun high in the sky, so we didn’t stop for too long and 30 minutes later we were on our way back to Finch Hattons for lunch.

It was 2.10pm by the time we got back to camp and we were served lunch by the pool. It was quite warm and they had this misting system that was cooling us from the roof as we took our seats on long benches. It is these small touches that makes this camp so special. There is not a detail that hasn’t been thought of. We heard a story that there was a hippo that had been found in the pool a few times and that the pool lost half of its water once he had been evicted out of it! Imagine seeing that!!!! By the time we had finished ANOTHER six course meal it was 4pm. We were given 30 minutes to head back our rooms to freshen up, spend a small amount of time in our luxury tents before meeting back at 4.30pm. Keeping in mind the walk back to the rooms takes about 5-8 minutes one way, we really didn’t have much time to fluff around. The one thing I really wanted to do was get a picture of myself in our massive, stunning copper bathtub that was in our tents. I did ask how long it took to fill the tub if you were to actually take a bath, but I didn’t really get an answer, and it seems like a gross wastage of water, but then I never really have been a bath type person anyways. But this bath, stunning. I got my picture using my camera’s timer (no water was wasted) and after getting some warm clothes together I started to make my way back to the main building. We were back on the road again to head for Sundowners which was being hosted by Finch Hattons in the Chyulu Hills. What a lovely way to finish our last night!

A Sundowner is chiefly British. It's an alcoholic drink taken after completing the day's work, usually at sundown...... Makes sense, and what a day we had had, driving around in luxury safari trucks, seeing wild animals and eating six course meals! Yes, I think we have earned a sundowner this evening. The great thing with the location of this event, we were able to so some more safar-ing to get there. We were still on the lookout for the elusive elephants and some lions, which is quite funny we had not seen a single one in a park that is renowned for these two animals especially. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the spot after driving up some tracks, and it was a great view point overlooking the WHOLE national park. The Chyulu Hills is a mountain range that forms a 100 kilometer long volcanic field with its highest peak at 2188 meters. We were just shy of the highest peak, but we were high! The set up from the staff was amazing. I thought the bush breakfast was really special and the logistics required for that, but this, this was on another level completely. There were two tents set up; one was for food where there were hot and cold nibbles in a silver bain-marie, with china plates and the other tent was the bar. There was just about every spirit that you could think of, set up on a table, eskys full of soft drink, beer and wine with crystal glasses of every size set up, just for us, with the staff waiting to take your order. It was the true essence of sundowners and it really made you feel special and appreciate again just how much time and energy it took to get all this up to the middle of nowhere and set it all up and make it look this amazing!! Besides the two tents, there were safari chairs set up overlooking the view, tables set up and even some deck chairs to relax in! It really was a magical experience. So with a vodka and diet coke in a tall crystal glass in hand, I sat and just took in my surroundings. I cannot tell you just how magnificent the view was from here. It was pretty breezy up there, and warm blankets were handed out to wrap around us. Finch Hattons had also arranged to have their own in house Maasai guy show us how the Maasai tribe light a fire (which was quite difficult with it being so breezy up there) and they had also set up a temporary archery target and people got a chance to use a bow and arrow and see how close they could get to the target. 

 

From here the sun went down pretty fast. It is quite fascinating just how quickly a sun can set and I think that some people may have missed it as they partook in the massai activities. From there darkness wasn’t far off and it was time to get back in the trucks to make our way back to camp. I hadn’t quite finished my vodka but was told it was okay to take it in the truck with me. I was actually a little worried, as it was a bit of a bumpy road in places and I was responsible for this expensive piece of glassware. But I agreed, and that glass did not leave my hands for the whole 40 minute drive home! It was a roadie in the true sense of the word!!!! It was pitch black by now and about 20 minutes in we were lucky enough to see a leopard cross in front of us on the road. Another leopard! He really didn’t stick around and because it was so dark, it was tough to see where he was once he left the trucks headlights, but I got a sneaky photo that had the shine of his eyes. 

We were back at camp at 7.40pm, one crystal glass in hand and intact! We were to meet again at 8.30pm, this time in the formal dining room for our last six course meal of the trip. So we were escorted to our rooms when we arrived and I was collected again at 8.30pm to head back to the restaurant. While I was waiting for my collection, I again sat on my verandah and shone my powerful torch and I saw two buffalo on the other side of the lake!!! So it was another fabulous meal, with fabulous company and it was a little sad that the trip was ending tomorrow. As they say all good things must come to an end and at 11pm, it was time for me to say my goodnights. I was absolutely knackered after such a BIG day and after getting escorted back to my room again, and we saw another waterbuck along the path and also fresh giraffe prints… I love that, it is so cool to know that the giraffes are around and so close!!!!! There was another check for animals when I was delivered to my tent doors and I am sure that when my head hit that soft, glorious pillow I was asleep in ten seconds flat. I left my curtains open again so that I could see the sunrise from my bed in the morning and I could not think of a better way to start the next day.